You’ve heard it said, “It’s Friday… But Sunday is coming!”
We don’t experience the same emotions Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt on that Friday we call good. Her son had died. It was anything but a good Friday for her.
We haven’t lost hope like the disciples did (who walked with Jesus for three years of his earthly ministry) when he breathed his last. They gave up their livelihoods to follow him, and now he had given up his life. The disciples watched him heal the sick and feed 5000 people with a kid’s sack lunch, and they watched these same people betray him, beat him, and hang him on a tree. The one they believed to be the Messiah had really died.
As 21st-century Christians, we have access to the whole story. We can see that it was necessary for Jesus to die to save us from our sins (Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). We can see that Jesus did not stay dead (Mark 16:5-7; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 15:55; Ephesians 1:20), and he will never die again (Romans 6:9). The apostle Paul said, if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is pointless (1 Corinthians 15:14-19). The resurrection of Jesus is not something we celebrate only one Sunday a year. Our faith hinges on it!
Preparing your heart for Easter is not much different than preparing your heart for worship on the other 51 Sundays of the year. Your time spent Monday-Saturday in God’s Word and in prayer, repenting, and being obedient will directly affect the impact of the Sunday gathering for you. If you aren’t pursuing Jesus Monday through Saturday, you will expect too much from worship services. You will need your preferred songs or style of music. You will need kids to be quiet so you can focus because it’s your only time with God. But if you are pursuing Jesus Monday-Saturday, you can quickly engage your heart in worship, no matter the songs or style of music, because you have many reasons to praise the Lord! You’ll give grace to distracting people, thanking God that he has drawn them to hear the good news of Jesus, too!
So, how might we prepare our hearts for Easter?
Read
Study the accounts leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. If you don’t know where to start, follow along with the recommended resource below. Don’t read it just for intellectual knowledge; allow your heart to engage with what happened. Think about how Mary must have felt when she watched the events unfold. Put yourself in the disciples' sandals and imagine the emotions and the questions they had as they buried the Messiah. And let your faith arise as you read about your Savior conquering sin, death, and the grave!
Pray
Ask God to awaken your cold and familiar heart to the wonder of the resurrection of Jesus! Thank God for what he has done by sending Jesus to die on your behalf so that you might be forgiven and raising him from the dead so that you might have eternal life!
Share
Talk with others about what Jesus has done in your life. Just like we can’t contain our excitement when our football team makes it to the Super Bowl or when we try a great new restaurant, we can’t help but talk about what Jesus has done in our lives! Let an invite to church for Easter services be the thing that sparks a conversation about Jesus with your family, co-workers, classmates, or teammates.
Recommended Resource as you prepare your heart for Easter
A 7-Day Holy Week Devotional